Hot Topics:

Voters may be asked to create Lyons library district

District would reach into southwestern Larimer County

By John Fryar Longmont Times-Call

Posted:
06/29/2013 05:19:50 PM MDT

BOULDER -- Lyons town officials and residents who have been developing plans for a possible expanded public library and community resource center would like to put the proposal for a tax-supported regional library district on Lyons-area voters' November election ballots.

Representatives of Lyons' town government and a library planning committee presented the idea to Boulder County commissioners Thursday and said they hope to make a similar presentation to the Larimer County commissioners within the next several weeks.

While a specific site and detailed design for the proposed regional library haven't been completed, the facility would either expand or replace the Lyons Depot Library facility at Fifth and Broadway. Lyons' public library has been housed in that old stone railroad depot building, which reportedly dates back to 1885, since about 1977.

The historic building "is a precious gem for us," town administrator Victoria Simonsen told Boulder County Commissioners Cindy Domenico, Elise Jones and Deb Gardner. But Simonsen and other proponents of a regional library district said the Lyons-area community needs a facility with more space that could also provide a location and resources for meetings and other community events and gatherings.

Comments from people who

attended meetings about the regional library concept, as well as responses to community surveys, have so far been "overwhelmingly positive" about the project, said Mark Browning, chairman of the town's Library Project Steering Committee.

Advertisement

The boundaries of the library district would generally follow those of the Lyons Fire Protection District, Simonsen said, plus an area east of Lyons' town limits that lies outside the fire district. The proposal would include properties in unincorporated areas outside the town, including some areas north of the Boulder-Larimer county line.

The ballot question under consideration would ask residents and property owners within those boundaries not only for their approval of creating the regional library district but would also ask their OK for the district to collect an annual property tax -- up to a maximum 5.85 mill levy -- to pay for construction and operation of the library and community resource center.

Domenico told the Lyons contingent at Thursday's meeting that she'd like to know more about "how deep the public support is" for the proposal -- and how that support is being gauged -- before the commissioners decide whether to put such a question on

November's ballot.

Boulder County commissioners on Thursday agreed that within the coming few weeks, they'll schedule and advertise a public hearing on the proposal. That hearing probably will be set for sometime in August.

Article Comments

We reserve the right to remove any comment that violates our ground rules, is spammy, NSFW, defamatory, rude, reckless to the community, etc.

We expect everyone to be respectful of other commenters. It's fine to have differences of opinion, but there's no need to act like a jerk.

Use your own words (don't copy and paste from elsewhere), be honest and don't pretend to be someone (or something) you're not.

Our commenting section is self-policing, so if you see a comment that violates our ground rules, flag it (mouse over to the far right of the commenter's name until you see the flag symbol and click that), then we'll review it.